Illuminated electric sign.



J. HOTCHNER.

ILLUMINATED ELECTRIC SIGN- APPLICATION FILED DEO.12, 19'08.

' 987,069.; y Patena Mar.14,1911.

@@@QQQQQQ Zf/wse I 1 d WW W W I JOSEPH HOTCHNER, OF SAN FRACISCG, CALIFORNIA.

ILLUMINATED ELECTRIC SIG-N.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led December 12, 1908.

Patented Mar. 1st, 1911. Serial No. 467,312.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, JOSEPH Ho'ronnnn, a citizen of the United States,`residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Illuminated Electric Sign, of which the following is a specifiA cation in such full and clear terms as will enable those skilled in the artto construct and use the same.

rlhis invention relates to an illuminated sign and its object is to produce a block letter effect with a plain letter, means being provided to space the letter away from the body of the sign to give the block effect.

Another object of the invention is to produce a sign which will give the required result with the least expense of time and money.

It is to be noted that where a large sign has several letters painted on each side thereof that considerable care must be taken to avoid injury to the letters and also in the painting to give a good final appearance to the sign. It is also to be noted that as the size of the sign increases the liability to injury to the face thereof increases, because of the increasing total weight necessitating several persons to handle the sign. This invention avoids this ditliculty by making a stock background in which the lamp plugs are secured and making use of the let-ters secured in place on the plain background when the background has been erected in place.

Another object of this invention is to produce a universal background. on which any number of various letters may be hung, the lamps holding the letter in place.

Another object of the invention is to produce a sign which may be easily cleaned and repainted. The letters being held in place simply by the lamps may be removed and washed and repainted, while the background is left in its position.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawing in which the same numeral indicates the same part throughout, Figure l shows a universal background in elevation, said background being intended for use where changes in the word are often desired. Fig. 2 shows a front view of a letter intended to hide the sockets not in use while providing' openings for the lights to be used. Fig. 8 shows an end view of the background and the letter secured thereto by thelamps, and Fig. 4 shows a front view of a sign where the word is to remain permanently the same.

The numeral l indicates the sign body, 2 the sockets for the lamps 3, the wiring for the lamps being concealed within the sign body in a. manner well known in the art. The sockets 2 project from the face of the sign body as indicated in Fig. 3, and they form the means to space the letters away from the sign body, thus giving a natural shade effect when an outline letter is used. The letter 4 has holes which correspond in position with t-he position of the sockets in the sign body l, but they are only large enough to allow the lamp base to pass through, thus causing the letter itself to be spaced away from the sign body by the amount of the projection of the sockets. Since the globes of the lamps are much larger than the bases thereof they form the means whereby the letter et may be held in place on the sign body l.

It is to be noted that with the arrangement of sockets shown in Fig. l that any letter of the alphabet, and any numeral may be displayed, there being three lamps across the top row, five lamps in the middle row, three lamps in the bottom row and one lamp in the center under the middle row of five. This arrangement of the lamp sockets is of particular advantage where it is necessary to change the sign often for advertising purposes, the plate shown in Fig. 2 covering all of the unused sockets and having the letter painted 'on the face thereof. It is also to be noted that this arrangement of the socket-s provides the smallest number of sockets for the great number of changes required.

Having thus described my invention. what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

l. A sign having a plurality of lamp sockets therein, a letter having openings to correspond with some of the lamp sockets, and lamps in the sockets and holding the letter to the sign body.

2. A sign body having a plurality of lamp sockets therein, a letter having openings along its elements to correspond in position with some of the sockets of the sign body, means to space the letter away from the sign body, whereby a natural shade effect is produced withNt-he letters and sign body, and lamps inthe sockets along the elements of the letter and securingV the letters detachably to the sign body.

3.'A sign body adapted to be used withv an indefinite number of letters and igures and having a series of three sockets along its upper edge and along its lower edge, five lamps along its central line horizontally,

Vand a single 4lamp spaced substantially one words` and having a plurality of lamp sockets therein and projecting therefrom, a letter having holes along its elements to correspond with the position of certain oi' the lamp sockets of the background, and lamps in the sockets and adapted to hold the letter in place on the background against the lamp sockets.

In'testimony whereof l have set my hand this 11th day'of November A. D. 1908, in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

JOSEPH HOTOHNER. lVitnesses W. T. Hnss, C. P. GRIFFIN.

i Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Y Washington, D. C. 

